RK

iTrader: (1)

Do NOT get a carbon fiber hood. It will weigh the same or more than a regular hood which is amazingly light but unless you get a very good name brand you will end up with fitment problems.

Instead sell your burnout lip and get a Mazdaspeed front bumper (painted) and a regular hood.

You will be much happier going the MS look all round and it'll increase any resale value whereas a CF hood will decrease the value of your car.

Then later if you really want to go CF do it but it'll look so much better with the agressive MS body then with just the lip/skirts.

Just my $.02.

Oh and sucks you got backed into.

RK

iTrader: (1)

PS. What the hell are those blue wires strung out over your intake/battery/pcm? Grounding kit?

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

I agree with Ryan.
If you're looking at weight reduction, go on a small diet and lose 5-10lbs (which you'll lose more that way).
I honestly think the carbon fiber hood looks ugly, but that is just my opinion.
Now there are some good looking vented hoods I would even consider.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

Damn it.. I hate how my work blocks Photobucket links.
I can only see attachments

RK

iTrader: (1)

Problem solved.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

Thanks Ryan!
Yeah... WTF is that?

Danc

iTrader: (1)

Grounding kit maybe... I'm thinking more of a power line for an amp though. Obviously not very clean.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

That's what I was thinking, but couldn't tell if the wires were running between the battery box and the intake box.

13sampsRx8

iTrader: (3)

okay i was going to get this one here and yes that is a grounding kit that i was taking off in that picture

13sampsRx8

iTrader: (3)

I think i am going with the mazdaspeed front but i need a new hood either way and i wanted it to be vented

RK

iTrader: (1)

Its your car and plenty of people like the look but I've never been a CF fan as far as looks go. The only time I like it is when people have done an end-to-end change to visual mods on the 8 and have power to go with the look.

Still think you're better off putting the money towads a MS kit but in the end if it makes -you- happy then go for it.

13sampsRx8

iTrader: (3)

yea i will eventually get it painted red but my main problem now is getting my car fixed haha..so that plastic shroud closest to the bumper shown in my picture can be totally replaced with the greddy air diversion panel?

Danc

iTrader: (1)

Are you talking about that piece that sits below the hood latch or the engine undercover?

13sampsRx8

iTrader: (3)

where the hood latch is at

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

I didn't go out and take this picture.... its actually from almost a year ago when I installed my super sweet 10HP strut bars.

You can see the red greddy panel in the edge of the photo. I guess it uses OEM fasteners, but its just a pic for your reference.

Danc

iTrader: (1)

Hey Steve, any word on the welding?

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

Yes and no: it would be a nice little fill in project for someone for an hour... but we'd need to have the pipe on hand, but you need it to drive around. Its harder to give you advanced notice of when one of the qualified welders will have the down time to get it done...

So basically, I'm just waiting to see what the next few weeks of the production schedule look like.

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

Aren't we talkin about a 10 minute job here steve?

tiresmoker

iTrader: (1)

Oh yeah, forgot about the autoshow. Surprisingly the tone has changed a bit since then. It was still pretty much new on the car at that point. You'll have to hear it at the autocross on Sunday (if you come out)




New Ryan: I second the MS front bumper. Looking at your car though I don't recall the front plate or the eyelids in comparison to the Velo Red I see out here in Columbiana.

There is this one red 8 that I always wave to (usually driving down main street) I know we talked about this already, but is that you and you just added a plate (or I missed it)

RK

iTrader: (1)

So....

Anybody feel like helping me replace all of my coolant hoses?

Ray shipped them out yesterday. Should get them today or tomorrow (yay FedEx!) which means I might do it on Sunday. If not I'm taking Friday afternoon off next week to prep the car for the track so I'll do it then.

Gotta figure out how many clamps and what sizes I need since I have no idea how to remove the current clamps and figure I'll break those (that's why I tried to just cut the upper rad hose without taking it off ).

Depending on how long it takes me I may just replace the upper rad hose this weekend (or next Friday) and then do the rest when it's more convienent to do a full drain/replacement. I gotta make sure I cut the hose and have the sensor attached BEFORE I put it in.

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

Well, sort of... but the right people need to have the 10 minutes in the same time frame... First, we'll need to drill the current pipe. So drill press for that, which is a different plant from our Aluminum welder and welding wire.

You gotta remember we pretty much weld on mild steels, only a handful of guys are trained to weld aluminum on a really thin gauges like this.

Dana - I'm thinking it may be better to take this to a proper automotive shop. Like I said, It would be better to have the pipe for a week so the proper people can work on it as they get time.

Machiavelli

Is there a She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed on the horizon??

Don't underestimate the fuel milage aspect. Things are pretty good now, but I think it likely that we're going to be back at $4/gallon and beyond in the not too distant future. I'm surprised to hear the Forester has no pick-up. I've never driven one, but the published numbers seem to suggest that acceleration is respectable, though not exhilarating. Automatic transmission?

I ran into that when I bought my CX-7 in December. They want to get cars off their lot. They dropped like a stone with little effort on my part. Getting the last few hundred dollars out of them was . . . erm . . . like pulling teeth, but it wouldn't have felt right to seal the deal without some intensity.

Winter driving? You have some long commutes. I'd probably go with the Forester and try really hard not to spill gas.

Just curious - did you think about the CX-7?

docgatorx8er

iTrader: (10)

no................HELL NO......just kidding you


The acceleration on the automatic Forester was poor. That 4 cylinder just doesn't have the push. Otherwise, I thought it was a fine vehicle.

I bought the Tacoma last night. They actually matched the price of the Forester with the upgraded Tacoma. They were very aggressive with discounting at Toyota. I was surprised.

The problem is that I use the vehicle primarily for hauling stuff. My needs were in the middle. The Forester wasn't enough and the Tacoma too much. I erred to the side of excess capacity. I will pay a price for that, but this will likely be the last truck I buy. I will likely downgrade the next vehicle. My needs will decrease when the kids get older and with my business plans. But for now, I need that little bit extra capacity.

The CX7 did not have the height in the cargo area I need.

I would recommend the Forester highly to anyone looking. Just wasn't enough for my current needs.

rotareriot

iTrader: (1)

hey anyone have the link to the coolant temp sender for some lotek gauges that wont make me cut a hole in my hoses. john told me to make sure to get that one as to bypass all that. would be much appreciated,

RK

iTrader: (1)

Lotek is just the pod. Your gauges are going to be manufactured by someone else.

You want the Racing Beat Adapter. Scroll down here about 3/4 of the way. It's blue.

https://www.fluidmotorsports.com/p-103-gauges.aspx

This hooks up to the heater hose next to your windshield wiper fluid container. I believe you still have to cut your hose but it's much, much easier then having to cut the big upper rad hose beneath and between your battery and PCM holders.

You may need an adapter to connect the sender wires of your gauge. Once you pick out your gauge do a search for 'Temp Adapter' and your gauge manufacturer.